The Return
by I'll Be Watching You Drown
Summary: A year after the eldest Haillwell's death, to the surprise of the family and everyone in the magical community, Prue returns, beaten, tortured and traumatized but alive. Questions arise as to how she survives and new evils threaten the girls.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**Author's note:** So here I am again with the new revapmed version. I hope this turns out the way it does and that you'll like it too. I had troulbe thinking of the plots a bit. Lol. Now, with that done, I leave you to read the first part of the fic!! Enjoy! :)

--

It was a dim place, lit by a single torch situated in the far corner of the cell, and it was damp and small in size. The smell that lingered in the air was putrid and strong, a mixture of blood and sweat. The only sound that could be heard was the clank of chains and metal against the stonewall that held a captive in place.

Clad in tattered clothes, the captive weaved in and out of consciousness, head lolling from side to side as she tried her best to be aware of her surroundings.

Blood trickled down from a wound on her forehead, getting into her eye. She raised a hand to wipe it away, but found the manacles that confined her hindered her as well. All she could do was try and blink the blood away as it slowly mixed with the tears caused by the pain.

Then she heard it, her ears pricking at the sound of distant footsteps. She clenched her fists and stiffened, fear overtaking her as she waited for the mastermind behind it all to appear.

And then there she stood, arrayed in the black ensemble that most demons wore, a disturbing smile on her face and an evil glint in her eye. The light from the torch flickered slightly, as if it knew that the presence of evil was there, contrasting with it.

"Well, well, well…." she drawled. She let out a small 'huh' and walked towards her prisoner, dragging her feet along the ground, making a harsh sound as they grinded over the stone floor. She stopped a few feet away, and with a twirl of her fingers produced a silver dagger from thin air. She gracefully snatched it before it fell to the ground and gripped it tight, the blade glistening. "I hope you're comfortable," she said with a grin. "I mean, you are our guest, _Prue_."

Prue grimaced, but opted not to reply.

"Are you comfortable?"

Again, there was no reply, except for the chink of metal.

Prue's defiance seemed to have angered the demon and before she could react, she felt the cold blade pressed against her throat, digging into her flesh.

"As our guest," the demon hissed softly, her voice full of malice. "I expect nothing but respect from you, witch."

Prue opened her mouth, eager for distance. "Yes," she croaked.

The blade was pressed harder and Prue let out a shout of pain. Blood began to seep, tainting the once spotless dagger. "_Yes, what_?" Came the evil voice.

"Yes, _Kara_."

The second Prue uttered the name, the weight on her neck disappeared, although pain lingered from the small cut that had been inflicted upon her.

Kara, the demon, stepped back and smirked at Prue before she turned her attention to the dagger, examining it closely. The blood seemed to fascinate her and she brought it closer to her face.

"Ahhhh." She inhaled deeply, savoring the smell and closing her eyes for added effect. "The smell of a witch's blood." She opened her eyes and sneered. "So invigorating." Licking her lips, Kara raised a finger and ran it against the fresh wound on Prue's neck, causing the witch to squirm, not from the pain, but from the touch. "If I could just kill you now…." Kara added longingly.

"Then why don't you?" Prue hissed back weakly, pressing herself against the wall, trying to get away from Kara's touch.

Noticing how uncomfortable Prue was, Kara withdrew her finger. "Trust me, Prue, if I could…." She brought her finger to her lips, all the while staring at Prue, and licked the blood off, making the witch shudder. "But believe it or not, I need you." Kara sighed dramatically. "I need you for my plan to work."

Prue perked at her words. Never during her captivity had Kara ever mentioned a plan. "What do you mean?" she questioned.

"Exactly what I said. I need you." Kara pointed at Prue. "For my _evil evil _plans to work. I need you to destroy the people who hinder me from rising. I need you to kill."

"I'll never do anything for you!" Prue said quietly.

"Oh, you will," Kara said, her words shrouded in mystery. "You'll do it and you'll enjoy it."

"I'd die before I do anything for you!"

"Are you sure about that?" Kara smiled.

"You bitch!" Prue yelled. She then spat on Kara, her saliva landing on Kara's pretty face.

Kara staggered backwards, taken by surprise. She brought a hand to her face and wiped the saliva off. She stared at if for a few seconds before she let out a snarl, wiping her hands vigorously on her clothes.

She took a step forward and Prue paled instantly as she watched Kara raise the silver dagger. "It's my turn to play," Kara growled furiously and, without warning, she drove the dagger deep into Prue's stomach.

Prue reeled, her mouth dropping open as she felt the pain set in.

Not satisfied, Kara twisted the dagger, causing Prue to shudder as the pain increased tenfold.

Kara took a step back, leaving the dagger in place, and huffed.

Blood instantly gushed from the wound, forming a ruby red spot on the already grim rags as Prue let out gasps of air.

Kara snarled again and kicked the floor as she watched Prue, anger coursing through her. If there was one thing she hated, it was to be disrespected and ridiculed.

"SOL!" she shrieked. "SOL!"

There was a sound behind her and she twirled around to find a tall man with strong facial features standing with his hands in his pockets. He too was dressed in black.

"You called?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, his eyes darting from Kara's angered demeanor to Prue's pale face and lingering on the knife embedded into her torso.

"Have you're way with her!" she yelled indignantly, pointing an accusing finger at Prue, who was trying hard to not succumb to the darkness.

"What did you do to her?" Sol asked quietly, turning his gaze to Kara. "Kara, we can't lose her."

"And we won't!" Kara roared. She turned around and punched Prue as hard as she could on her side.

Prue cried out, recoiling and moaning in agony, but the two arguing demons ignored her, and instead got into a heated conversation.

"Kara!" Sol reprimanded as Kara drew back her fist, ready to punch again. "Stop that!"

Gritting her teeth, Kara obeyed and lowered her hand, although she glared at Sol. "Since when do you take the side of a witch?!"

"The moment you lost your senses!" countered Sol in a loud voice. "If anything happens to her, our plan will be useless!"

"Are you implying that I am stupid?!" Kara shrieked, taking a step forward.

Sol fixed her with a menacing look. "All I'm trying to say is don't do anything that might mess up the plan."

"I'm not going to destroy anything." Kara replied in annoyance before she turned back to Prue, finding weakness in the green eyes that stared at her.

"I'll… get… you." she uttered, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"Are you threatening me?" Kara's eyes widened in mock sarcasm.

"I'll get you…."

Kara rolled her eyes. "I'm so tired of these empty threats." She reached her hand and with one swift movement pulled the dagger out. Prue jerked violently as the pain engulfed her, weakening her slowly. "Sol," Kara turned to the other demon. "Change of plans."

"What now?" he asked.

"We're in a hurry now." Her eyes gleamed. "Deal with her first." She jerked her head, motioning to Prue. "Then after that, follow the plan. You know what do to."

Sol smiled mysteriously. "Obviously."

"If you do it right, I'll make it up to you." Kara licked her lips and smirked before she shimmered out, leaving Sol alone.

Chuckling slightly, Sol turned his attention to the person in front of him. "So what do you prefer?"

There was no reply.

"Ahhh." Sol nodded his head approvingly. "Good choice. Club it is then." And as he said the words, a club appeared in his hands.

--

**Author's Note:** So there we go. :) Hopefully, you found it interesting enough. Review if you feel like it and if you do, please tell me how it is. I'd appreciate the comments. Thank you for reading! Till next time!


	2. Demons Brought Us Here

**Demons Brought Us Here**

**Author's Note:** I'm sooo sorry this took long to update!! School has got me all caught up that I haven't found the time to write this let alone have a life! But I'm not going to give up on this hence the update. Anyway, thank you to all who reviewed! Next chap. there'll be special mentions. :D But really. Much appreciated. Hopefully you all haven't given up on this just yet and so I present to you, chapter one!

--

The Halliwell Manor was all quiet and peaceful, and Piper Halliwell was just getting ready to lie down on the sofa to relax after a long morning of baking goods. She put a pillow behind her head and, without further ado, leaned back, stretching her legs leisurely. She let out a contented sigh, thankful that for once she had the house all to herself.

It wasn't that she didn't like living with her sisters. No, it wasn't that. It was just that living with two other sisters who happened to be witches and who fought demons on a weekly basis was starting to get repetitive and tiring on their account.

Piper let out another sigh, settling into a more comfortable position when suddenly; there was the sound of faint tinkling bells, followed by a loud voice.

"I was so sure it was there!" Paige's frustrated words echoed throughout the house.

Piper shut her eyes and groaned inwards. "No. _No, no, no_. Not now."

"Are you sure?" Phoebe's skeptical voice followed. "He wasn't there when we got there."

"Really, Phoebe? He wasn't there?" countered Paige sarcastically.

Piper quickly sat up as the bickering Paige and Phoebe came into view. Ever since they had found out she was pregnant, Paige and Phoebe had insisted that Piper get a lot of rest while they went out hunting for demons, but instead, all Piper had gotten from it were two bickering sisters.

"Anyway, I scryed for him twice before we went out," Paige continued, waving her hands around. "He was there," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"But he wasn't," Phoebe reminded, crossing her arms against her chest.

Paige's eyes widened in disbelief. "It's not my fault if he decides to go away or something! What am I, his keeper?!" She threw her hand out as if wanting an explanation.

Phoebe opened her mouth, an explanation apparently ready, but was instantly cut off by Piper's ear splitting whistle. The two instantly covered their ears, grimacing.

Piper stopped and, like a responsible older sister, got up, putting her hands to her hips, a demanding look on her face. "What are you two fighting about now?"

Phoebe looked down at her feet and Paige dramatically hung her head.

"I asked a question." Piper looked from one to the other. "Can anyone tell me?"

"Well," Paige began. "We were after this demon…"

"But we couldn't find him," Phoebe added.

"And Phoebe blamed me for losing him." Paige threw her sister a dirty look. "Apparently, I'm his new keeper."

Phoebe scratched her neck. "Well, you were the one scrying for him."

"Whoever said scrying is one hundred percent legit?" Paige pointed out.

"It's worked most of the time." Phoebe defended.

Paige turned to Phoebe, arms crossed. "What exactly are you implying?"

"Okayy!" Piper said out loud as she got the hint that another argument was about to start. "Ding ding! Back to your corners, Both of you!" Paige rolled her eyes and turned back to facing Piper who was now scrutinizing her sisters, looking back and forth.

"What is going on?" Piper asked, her brows furrowing together. "And I'm not talking about this… this argument over a demon! Paige, what's going on with you?"

Paige moaned. "You know what? Never mind." She threw her hands up in defeat and made her way to the stairs.

Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks.

"Paige," Piper called out. "Hey!"

"Paige!" Phoebe followed after her and Piper followed suit.

"Paige!" Piper admonished as Paige made her way up the first flight of stairs. "I am hormonal and pregnant! And the last thing you want is me momentarily angry at you for storming out on us without a reason."

Paige stopped in her tracks. She let out a sigh and slowly turned around. "Yes?"

"What's wrong?" Piper asked in a serious tone. "What's bothering you?"

Paige contemplated the question for a while before she replied. "Nothing."

"Paige," Phoebe began. "If it's about the argument, then I'm sorry. I didn't mean to argue. I was just kind of annoyed the demon got away, that's all."

Paige shook her head. "It's not that. I mean, I'm sorry I argued back too."

"Then?"

Paige let out another sigh and sat down on the stairs. "I don't know… I've… I've just been having this feeling."

Piper climbed the stairs and pulled Phoebe with her. They both sat on either side of the youngest witch. "What feeling?"

"Hmmm." Paige bit her lower lip and shrugged as she said, "It's like… I feel that I need to… to prove myself to you guys. Like I need to now and I'm going to need to in the future…" She trailed off.

"Wait." Phoebe put a hand on Paige's thigh. "Prove what?"

"That I'm worthy as a witch and as a sister? That I deserve to be here? I don't know."

"Paige!" Phoebe looked stunned. "What? You're our sister! There's no questioning you deserving to be here!"

Paige threw her hands out, clearly frustrated. "I have this feeling that something is going to come up and make me question that!"

Piper, who had been silently listening to Paige, finally spoke. "'Me' being the key point in your sentence." She pointed out before continuing on. "Look, whatever you think, whatever you feel, that's not going to happen. You don't need to prove anything, nothing at all. Do you think we'd even be here talking if you did have something to prove to us?"

Paige looked rather sheepish. "No."

"Exactly." Piper finished triumphantly.

"Sometimes you think too much for your own good, Paigey," Phoebe said in her childish small voice.

"Eh. I can't help it. It's not my fault if I get these feelings," defended Paige.

"Ugh. Enough 'feelings' talk." Piper got up, her sisters looking at her. "I'm going to get emotional and I don't need that."

"That's a sight to see." Phoebe grinned.

"Don't count on it, missy." Piper gave her a stern look. "What I do need is a peanut butter strawberry ice cream."

"What?!" Came the baffled voices of Paige and Phoebe.

"Gross." Phoebe dry heaved.

"I'm getting goose bumps just think of it." Paige showed her arm to Phoebe and received a hit behind the head from Piper.

"HEY! What happened to all the sisterly understanding crap a few seconds ago?!" Paige said in a wounded voice as she rubbed her head.

"Do not mess with a pregnant lady and her food," Piper called back as she walked down the stairs.

Phoebe patted Paige on the shoulder before she got up to follow Piper. "I'll remind you next time."

"Please do."

"Don't insult the food next time!" Piper hollered before she disappeared from view.

"Hormonal raving bi-"

"I can hear you!!"

Paige squeaked and quickly got up, running up the stairs as a pillow flew overhead.

She stopped and took a breath when she reached the second landing.

"Paige?"

Paige nearly fell over in surprise. "Holy crap!" She turned around to face the source of the voice.

"I'm sorry." Leo apologized, looking slightly abashed.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack, Leo?!" Paige rebuked her brother-in-law.

"I'm really sorry, Paige, but there's something important that I've got to tell you," Leo hurriedly explained.

Paige pointed to herself. "Just me?"

"No. It involves you and your sisters. Where are they?" Leo proceeded to ask, peering behind Paige as if he were expecting Piper and Phoebe to jump out.

"They're in the kitchen-" But before Paige could even finish her sentence, Leo grabbed her hand and orbed out only to appear in the kitchen seconds later, much to the dismay of Paige.

Once the blue blinding lights had disappeared, Paige pulled away from Leo, staggering. "You could have told me we were orbing!" she said reproachfully.

"Wow. What's going on?" asked Phoebe, sitting down at the table with Piper who was sporting a mug full of strawberry ice cream. She was currently spooning in peanut butter.

"Honey?" Piper waited for her husband to explain as she continued on, unfazed.

"There's something really important I need to tell you guys." He glanced at the watch on his wrist and became agitated. "But I don't have time to explain it."

Paige, who was finally seeing how serious Leo was, spoke next. "What is it?"

"I can't explain right now." Leo repeated. "But you three need to come with me. Now."

Phoebe and Piper exchanged glances as Paige quietly obliged, putting a hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Come on, guys." Paige beckoned them forward.

Phoebe got up and waited for Piper to do the same. After a few seconds of longingly looking at the pinkish brown mixture in her mug, she groaned and got up.

The two made their way to Leo, holding onto his arm.

"This better be good. I'm really craving my ice cream," Piper muttered before they disappeared in a burst of blue lights, leaving the kitchen empty.

--

"Leo, could you at least tell us what's going on!" Phoebe pleaded as they followed their whitelighter down another winding alleyway.

Leo did not reply but instead quickened his steps.

"Leo!" Piper called out.

"Come on!" He gestured for them to hurry up. "We're near."

"Near to what?" Piper asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

They turned a corner and Leo stopped in his tracks, all three girls nearly colliding into him.

"Jeez, Leo," Paige commented. "What is up with you today?"

"She's somewhere here!" he exclaimed, looking around. "I can sense her!"

"Who is?" Phoebe asked as all three of them looked around the place.

"Her," said a deep voice from the shadows. A man stepped out from behind the large dumpster, coming into view.

"He's not a girl." Phoebe stupidly said out loud.

"Obviously, Phoebe." Piper shook her head.

Paige peered. "Let's see… Black clothes, deep voice, malicious look, hiding behind dumpsters and anticipating us? Yup, definitely demon."

Leo ignored the girls. "Who are you?" Leo asked the demon.

"Ahh." The demon shook his head approvingly. "We have manners. That's a good start. I am Sol."

"And where is she?" Leo continued.

"Where is who?!" The three girls asked in unison, clearly annoyed at being kept in the dark.

A smile played on Sol's face and, with the flick of his hand, a lady appeared in front of him, mouth gagged, eyes covered with a blindfold and bleeding hands bound tightly with a rope. "Right here." He gestured, kicking the lady on the leg lightly, making her fall to her knees.

"Jesus Christ!" Phoebe exclaimed as her eyes saw the injuries that ravaged the women's body, settling on the crimson red stain that had soaked her clothing.

"Not quite," Sol said, still smiling. "I'll miss her though. I've had so much fun playing around with her." He kneed her in the back and the lady let out a groan. "All the times I watched her bleed and suffer and cry."

"You sick bastard." Piper growled as rage stirred up in here.

Sol chuckled and bowed graciously. "I do try."

Paige moved forward to attack.

"Uh-uh!" Sol quickly conjured a fireball, his hand hovering a few inches away from the victim's head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Paige." Leo pulled Paige back and she gritted her teeth.

"Always trying to act like heroes," Sol commented, the fireball disappearing from his hand. He let out an evil laugh. "As for me, I have to leave. There are people to kill, plans to make." He gestured to the kneeling woman. "I hope you enjoy and I really hope we'll be seeing each other again," Sol said sincerely. He waved a hand in farewell before he shimmered out, leaving no traces of having been there.

"Come on," Leo said without hesitation as he hastily made his way to the woman, the sisters following.

Leo got down to his knees and gently put his hand on the lady's shoulder. She stiffened and let out another whimper. "Paige, untie her hands." Leo instructed and Paige came forward, moving behind her and getting down, untangling the rope.

"You'll be okay." Leo comforted. "We're not here to hurt you."

The only reply he received was another groan.

The moment Paige unraveled the rope; Leo undid the blindfold as well.

There was a collective intake of breath that was heard from Leo, Piper and Phoebe.

"Oh my god…," Phoebe said in horror, her face livid. "Holy… Holy crap."

"What? What's wrong?" Paige asked, still kneeling behind the person, who fell back slightly into her arms.

"It's her…," Piper uttered, too lost for words to explain further. Her hand shook as she clung on to Phoebe to prevent herself from falling.

"Who?" Paige asked, dread filling her as the weight of the person sagged into her.

This time it was Leo who replied in a hushed voice, his eyes never leaving the woman's face, seemingly entranced. "Prue…"

"What?!" Paige exclaimed.

"Finally," Prue whispered tiredly before her vision darkened and she knew no more.

--

**Author's note: **So there. They've found her. :) Now what??

Thank you so much for reading this so if you feel up for it, please do review. If not, hey, my loss. Lol. A shout out to my beta reader, **Beth**! Kudos mate! Story wouldn't have been the same without her!! Next chapter will be up soon after I get through the writer's block I'm having on it. But it'll be good. :D

Yet again, thank you! review if you wish!


End file.
